About Rive
Rive is an animation tool and runtime for interactive graphics. Teams use it to build 2D and 3D games, apps and interactive interfaces, either by hand in the editor or with a coding agent.
What it does
The Rive Editor handles rigging, timelines, state machines and data binding. The Rive CLI lets a coding agent build a first version of a project and open a preview window. The preview rebuilds each time the agent saves, so changes show up quickly. Open-source runtimes then run the finished work on web, mobile, desktop and consoles.
Key features
- Rigging, timelines and state machines
- Data binding for live values
- CLI preview that rebuilds on save
- Runtimes for web, mobile and desktop
- Works with Claude Code, Codex and Cursor
Who it's for
Game designers and app teams that want animation that runs inside code are the main audience. Developers who need an interactive interface driven by animation states will also find it useful.
Pricing and good to know
The runtimes are open source, and the site says there are no royalties or runtime fees. The CLI and the editor can be tried without an account. The CLI is available for macOS on Apple Silicon, Windows and Linux. Learning the editor takes time, because state machines and data binding are a different way of working from frame-by-frame animation.
Highlights
- Rig, animate and build state machines
- Bind data to drive live values
- CLI preview that rebuilds on save
- Runtimes for web, mobile and desktop
- Works with popular coding agents
